Teacher A: Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we didn’t have to use any aversive procedures. Punishment is such a drag.
Teacher B: Yes! I agree. Positive reinforcement is sooo powerful—shaping, schedules, maintenance, and all that. You can do just about everything with it.
Teacher A: Really. I mean, we should make our classes totally positive this year. No negatives. None!
As strongly as I advocate the use of positive strategies in classroom management (“Catch ‘em being good!”), I have to acknowlege that there are at least three reasons it is impossible to create behavior management systems that exclusively employ positive reinforcement. Here’s why reasonable folks should resist the superficial appeal of the all-positive or positives-only Chimera.
Continue reading ‘Why not only positives?’
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Look under ‘posters & stickers’
I am pleased to call readers’ (both of you) attention to NoSpank.net. Although much of the advocacy presented there promotes parenting and teaching practices that have limited scientific bases, the organizing feature is a rejection of the use of physical violence as a disciplinary method. I support that effort.
There are at least 40-11 better alternatives, starting with teaching the child or youth what to do. More specifically and technically, here is a list of alternative methods for reducing the chances that a behavior will occur in the future:
Continue reading ‘No spanking’
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One mistake that adults sometimes make in giving directions to children and youths is to phrase directions as questions. Another is to give directions as if they are advice. Here are some examples of each:
- Asking questions:
- O.K., everyone, why don’t you turn in your work now?
- Where are your pen and paper supposed to be?
- Jimmy, don’t you think it would be a good idea to clear your desk and get ready for reading?
- If you think about it just a little bit, wouldn’t you think that other people would rather you put your trash in the trashbasket?
- What should you be doing right now?
- What part of ‘get a move on’ don’t you understand?
Continue reading ‘Better and Worse Ways of Giving Directions’
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Over on Smart Classroom Management, the site where he presents tips based on his book, Michael Linsin offers three reasons for not using behavior contracts. After a brief introduction that is generally pretty accurate, he argues that (a) “behavior contracts label students,” (b) “external rewards are short term,” and (c) “follow through is a bear.” He recommends employing a consistent behavior management plan for classrooms and adhering to it faithfully.
I certainly agree with the recommendation that teachers adopt and faithfully execute a carefully conceived and evidence-based classroom management plan, but I disagree with Mr. Linsin’s rejection of use of behavior contracts both because I think that contracts may be a component of a comprehensive management plan and because I think the objections he raises are specious.
Continue reading ‘Behavior contracts that work’
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Over on Slate, Alan Kazdin and Carlo Rotella tell parents what it takes to deter bullying. Under the headline “Bullies: They can be stopped, but it takes a village,” Professors Kazdin and Rotella explain what not to do and what works. They draw on real research about the issue, not just people’s reports and impressions.
Let’s say you find out that your child is being bullied by a schoolmate. Naturally, you want to do something right now to make it stop. Depending on your temperament and experience, one or more of four widely attempted common-sense solutions will occur to you: telling your child to stand up to the bully, telling your child to try to ignore and avoid the bully, taking matters into your own hands by calling the bully’s parents or confronting the bully yourself, or asking your child’s teacher to put a stop to it.
These responses share three features:
1) They all express genuine caring, concern, and good intentions.
2) You will feel better for taking action.
3) They are likely to be ineffective.
So what should a parent do? Well, my recommendation is easy: Read the article for guidance.
And, teachers, you should read this article, too. Then consult the resources listed here:
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Pat and I have a quiet tug-o-war between management and teaching. Although both of us recognize the importance of having both classroom management and instructional skills, she contends that the management skills are required. Pollyanna-ishly, I maintain that if one’s instructional management is strong, one will not need behavior management competence.
Too be sure, my view is idealist. That’s reinforced (ahem) by an article entitled “Schools Beef Up Classroom-Management Training” from by Vaishali Honawar of Education Week. Ms. Honowar provides the following lead:
Faced with concerns that too many teachers are entering the profession unprepared to manage classrooms, some colleges of education have in recent years increased their focus on training aspiring educators to handle disruptive students.
New teachers, even if skilled in academic subjects and pedagogy, often find themselves grossly unprepared to deal with student misbehavior. Discipline issues are one of the primary reasons given for teacher attrition. In fact, a 2003 study by the National Commission on Teaching and America’s Future, a Washington-based advocacy group, found that more than 25 percent of teachers who left the profession cited student discipline.
Given that I teach a behavior management class for my school’s teacher education program, I should be encouraged. I’ll still promote the idea that the first behavior management bulwark is powerful instruction, but I know I’ll have to teach them how to deal with problems, too. Here’s hoping I the evidence-based procedures I pitch to them will register…and stick.
Link to Ms. Honowar’s article.
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